December 12, 2016

Hola Familia!! 

This week has been soo great!! My new companion is Hermana Backstein! She is from good ol' Rexburg, Idaho! I love her soo much! Her Spanish is amazing and she is the sweetest girl I have ever met! I am super excited for these next two changes together!! 

This week was literally a week full of miracles. First off, I traveled to Montevideo by myself and it all went super smoothly!! Based on my past mission luck that was a huge miracle!!  Then we had a youth activity, something super low key! We just played soccer and at this activity our recent convert's daughters, Ximena and Antonella came!! They have been attending church for over three months but didn't want to get baptized! At the end of this activity they both went up to their mom and said they wanted to get baptized. We had a charla(lesson) with them and their dad yesterday and all of them are going to be baptized on the 30th!! It was the craziest miracle!! Then at this activity we had another girl come that we had never seen before. She was friends with a member in the ward. Well while we were planning, the member called us and told us that her friend wanted to have charla with us. So the next day we met with her and she wants to get baptized!! She will be getting baptized on the seventh!! 

We also had Daniel's baptism this week!! It was so awesome! His parents came and his best friend. Also, when he showed up he was in new clothes! The young mens presidency found him new pants, a white shirt and tie and new shoes! He would come to church in sweats with a beat up blue button up shirt because he didn't have better. I wanted to cry when I saw him and what made it even better is that he said he was a future elder!! It made me sooooo beyond happy!! 

I just love being in the service of my Savior!! All of the miracles that we see every week just strengthen my testimony. I know that Heavenly Father loves us and he knows what each and every one of us need. I love being able to testify of the truth every moment of every day! I know that I was meant to come on a mission at this time in Uruguay. I love you all and I hope you have a fantastic week!! 

Love, 

Hermana Rich

#lighttheworld

#;o

#lighttheworld

December 6, 2016

Hola familia!! 

This week has been sooo great. I just love Sarandi Del Yi and the mission..you know it is just the greatest!! We had the baptism of Elena this past week! It was fantastic..and super funny!! Elena has an aluminum..ohhh what is the word...rod!! She has an aluminum rod in her spine and so she can't bend backwards like normal for the baptism! So we had planned everything and even practiced that she was just going to sit down in the water so that the water covered her head. Well Hermano Girona told her don't worry if we don't get it the first time, we will get it the second time for sure!! Well apparently that scared her! She didn't want to do the baptism over again so instead of sitting down she threw herself backwards!! We seriously thought she had fallen and we were super worried about her back! But when we went to talk to her she told us baptism is only meant to be done once and so she changed plans! It was so funny!! Thank goodness her back was totally fine!  

This has also been a week full of creepy crawly things. The Lord is really trying me! This week we saw a big poisonous snake next to a house that we were visiting..it was disgusting! Then while we were waiting in the church there was a big old spider on the wall right next to me. Then we had flying beetles coming into our house and chasing us out of our study room. It is always an adventure to say the least!!  

This week we also had a little bump in the road with Daniel's parents. We had passed by his house to invite Daniel to a church activity, right? Well his Dad invited us to come in the house but we couldn't come in because his mom wasn't home. (for those who don't know we have to have a member of our same gender with us to teach the opposite sex) We explained to him the rule that we had and he seemed fine. But when we passed by for Daniel again he seemed SUPER different. Well it turns out that his parents got super offended that we didn't come in the house. His dad told him he wasn't allowed to pray in the house anymore or get baptized. If he got baptized they were going to kick him out of their house and the next time we passed by he was going to tell us all of these horrible things. We obviously didn't want to upset the family and Daniel was super sad that he couldn't get baptized. So we decided to pass by and apologize. Every time we passed by his parents weren't home. I was so nervous and sad that Daniel wasn't going to be able to get baptized and I prayed about it every day and I just felt like everything was going to work out. We passed by the other day and we FINALLY found his parents. We apologized for everything that had happened and in the end his parents were fine! They even said that he could get baptized and that they would come to support him!! What a miracle!! The Lord really does answer our prayers!! Daniel is super excited and we are going to have his baptism on Saturday!  I know that Heavenly Father hears and answers our prayers. Christ is at the head of this church and he is working just as hard as we are to bring these people to the truth. I know that I could not have done anything here in Uruguay without my Savior and Heavenly Father. They love us and they know what is best for us! 

On that note I am happy to share that I have been called to train another missionary for the next two changes!! I was not expecting that phone call at all but again, Heavenly Father knows best! I am really excited and I can't wait to see who my companion is! I will go to pick her up tomorrow from Montevideo!! But I love you all and I hope you have a great week!! 

Love, 

Hermana Rich

November 28, 2016

Hello family and friends!! 

So another week has come and gone and I must say it was a GREAT week!! 

We had Omar's baptism and it was amazing!! Omar has quite the history and to see him enter in the waters of baptism knowing he was leaving that all behind was so powerful! He is like a completely different person now and radiates 100% with the spirit! It was so amazing to be a witness to the power of the atonement change someone's life! We also had a HUGE storm the day of the baptism and regardless the members came to support him. Keep in mind there are only two families in the ward that have cars. They all showed up soaking wet but it was a great day. Then right after the baptism ended the power went out..a little miracle right there!! 

Believe it or not we also celebrated Thanksgiving!! It was soo great and tasted just like America! We had a multizone conference on Wednesday with Presidente Eddy and his wife! They along with  another senior couple made us all Thanksgiving dinner! I am telling you this week was just filled with miracles left and right!!  

We currently have four people with baptismal dates in the next three weeks! this week we have Elena's baptism and we are soo excited!! She has been progressing so well and every time we see her she is just more and more confident with herself! Just goes to show the power that we receive from living the Gospel.  

It has been so amazing to be a part of the Lord's work through out my mission and to see the Lord's hand at work daily in our lives! I love being a witness to our Savior and Heavenly Father! Everywhere we go as missionaries we are asked questions and people make comments and I love every minute of it. I have never felt so much joy in my life. I am so proud to say that I am a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter day saints. I know that Joseph Smith saw our father and Jesus Christ and with the power of God translated the Book of Mormon. I know that this is Jesus Christ's church here on the earth. I know that through the restored gospel we have received the sealing power to have eternal families. And I know that as we do our part and strengthen ourselves to live the gospel daily that we will one day return to our Heavenly Father! I love you all so much and thank you for all the love and support that you show me! I hope you have a great week and that you can find opportunities to share the gospel! 

Love, 

Hermana Rich